House Passes NAACP Supported Union Bill

THE ISSUE

On Thursday, March 1, the House of Representatives passed, by a
margin of 241 yeas to 185 nays, H.R. 800, the "Employee Free Choice
Act." This legislation will make sure workers have a fair chance to
exercise their democratic right to choose a union by making it
easier for a union to act as a mediator for workers if the majority
of workers have provided authorized signatures indicating that they
want the union to act as their representative, and increasing
penalties for violations against employees who are trying to
organize a union.

Currently, union workers earn 26% more in median weekly wages
than non-union workers; unionized women earn 31% more than their
non-union counterparts, and black union workers earn 29% more than
non-union African Americans. Furthermore, 75% of union workers have
health benefits, compared to 49% of non-union workers. 69% of union
workers have short-term disability coverage, compared to 30% of
their non-union counterparts. Finally, 82% of union workers get
life insurance, compared with 51% of non-union workers.

The impact of unions ? ensuring that all working Americans are
treated well and share in the prosperity ? cannot be overstated.
Despite the continuing strength and advocacy power of unions,
however, some employers continue to treat workers poorly, not
paying them a fair wage or providing them with necessary benefits:
the purchasing power of workers' wages is 5% below where it stood
30 years ago. CEO pay has continued to rise and is currently more
than 1,000 times the earnings of the average worker. The richest
13,000 US families have nearly as much income as the poorest 200
million combined. And some employers continue to fight the
legitimate organization of unions. 70% of American employers in
manufacturing threaten to close the plant if workers choose a
union. Furthermore, in the 1950's, when 30% of workers belonged to
unions, only a few hundred workers suffered retaliation for trying
to organize a union; in 1969, the number or workers suffering
retaliation was just over 6,000 and by the 1990's more than 20,000
workers each year were victims of discrimination when they tried to
organize a union.